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GALVESTON, Texas — Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have discovered two biochemical pathways that the Ebola virus relies on to infect cells. Using substances that block the activation of those pathways, they've prevented Ebola infection in cell culture experiments — potentially providing a critical early step in developing the first successful therapy for the deadly virus.

A new nonsurgical technique to repair leaking mitral valves in heart failure patients was safe in a study reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.

In a small study that focused on feasibility and safety, researchers observed improvements in mitral regurgitation in patients successfully treated with a reversible implant called the Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral Annuloplasty (PTMA®) system.

BOSTON – A common electrocardiogram (ECG) finding that has largely been considered insignificant may actually signal an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (a chronic heart rhythm disturbance), the future need for a permanent pacemaker and an increased risk for premature death. In their report in the June 24 Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Boston University School of Medicine describe results of the first large-scale study looking at the significance of a prolonged PR interval in a general population.

HOUSTON - In reviewing the weight history of pancreatic cancer patients across their life spans, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have determined that a high body mass index in early adulthood may play a significant role in an individual developing the disease at an earlier age.

The study, published in the June 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found that patients who are obese the year before diagnosis have a poorer outcome than those who are not.

A new study by a team of researchers led by Jessica Hellmann, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, offers interesting insights into how species may, or may not, change their geographic range — the place where they live on earth — under climate change.

A new study coauthored by Ian Kuijt, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, describes recent excavations in Jordan that reveal evidence of the world's oldest know granaries. The appearance of the granaries represents a critical evolutionary shift in the relationship between people and plant foods.

A landmark study has successfully demonstrated a 29 percent reduction in heart failure or death in patients with heart disease who received an implanted cardiac resynchronization therapy device with defibrillator (CRT-D) versus patients who received only an implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD-only).

HOUSTON – (June 22, 2009) – Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health have developed a game for HIV-positive youth, +CLICK, designed to reduce secondary transmission of the virus.

+CLICK was developed by Christine Markham, Ph.D., and Ross Shegog, Ph.D., assistant professors of behavioral sciences. The game's usability and credibility were assessed by HIV-positive (HIV+) youth at a Texas Children's Hospital clinic. Results from the study were published in the May issue of AIDS Care.

(PORTLAND, Ore.)—June 23, 2009—Underweight people and those who are extremely obese die earlier than people of normal weight—but those who are overweight actually live longer than people of normal weight. Those are the findings of a new study published online in Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.

Emergency physicians who evaluate patients with non-specific chest pain using whole chest multi-detector CT (MDCT) combined with retrospective electrocardiogram (ECG) gating can reduce the patient radiation dose by 71% using MDCT combined with prospective ECG triggering instead, according to a study performed at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.

HOUSTON – (June 22, 2009) – Researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health have developed a game for HIV-positive youth, +CLICK, designed to reduce secondary transmission of the virus.

+CLICK was developed by Christine Markham, Ph.D., and Ross Shegog, Ph.D., assistant professors of behavioral sciences. The game's usability and credibility were assessed by HIV-positive (HIV+) youth at a Texas Children's Hospital clinic. Results from the study were published in the May issue of AIDS Care.

NEWPORT, Ore. – Scientists are warning that a new form of unregulated whaling has emerged along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea, where the commercial sale of whales killed as fisheries "bycatch" is threatening coastal stocks of minke whales and other protected species.

Four of the biologists who described the underlying causes of aging will soon share their findings with an international audience during a symposium at the upcoming World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, taking place from July 5-9, 2009, in Paris, France.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (June 23, 2009) – University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have discovered an important new insight into how a commonly prescribed drug may work to treat those infected by a parasitic flatworm.